Oakland Raiders Cannot Enter 2013 With Only Terrelle Pryor at QB

By Jeric Griffin

Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders are in a jam with their current quarterback situation and the easy way out seems to be a huge gamble with Terrelle Pryor as their starting quarterback in 2013, but that would be disastrous for this disaster of a franchise. However, would you expect anything else from an empire built by the late Al Davis?

Sure, Carson Palmer‘s contract is way too big and something has to be done about it, but cutting him outright is not the answer unless Oakland is planning to take a quarterback with its No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. But that wouldn’t be a wise move either since there are no passers worth taking that early and even then, it would be better for them to have a veteran like Palmer to show them the ropes.

Pryor may have one start under his belt, but if you believe the horse radish about that being “promising,” then you’ve got another thing coming. So he’s basically a rookie and that doesn’t mean Oakland can expect an Andrew Luck-type performance in 2013 if they let Palmer go.

Palmer’s contract may be hefty, but at this point in his career, he’d likely take a pay cut to keep his job. If not, there are plenty of quarterback-needy teams who would likely take on his current contract in a trade, especially since the final two years (2015 and ’16) are voidable.

In short, the Raiders would be foolish to enter the 2013 NFL season with Pryor as their primary signal-caller. But again, stranger things have happened in Oakland.